A Snuggle Arm?
by tt22123
Summary: Bucky begins to trust Tony and this is their eventual friendship and relationship that blossoms. Containing high!Tony. IronWInter story. I, unfortunately, do not own the characters within nor the Avengers story line. :'(
1. Chapter 1

Bucky knew that above all else, except for himself, Steve cared most about art and drawing. He didn't have many memories of his previous life but those that he did have seemed to centre around the super soldier. It was that reason that found him sat alone in the park on a sunny afternoon, trying to draw the scenery around him. Each picture was better than the last, and he could understand why the blonde found it calming to draw, so he kept coming back to that same bench to improve until he found himself having drawn a good enough picture to give to the man who clearly meant so much to him in the past.

Each afternoon he hid the book well in the room Stark had reluctantly let him have on Steve's floor before he would head off to find the super soldier. He had thought that the book was entirely secret but there were two others who knew of it and what the sketchbook contained. Tony had pried when JARVIS had alerted him to the man hiding something from them, but upon seeing the contents he left and made sure never to mention even knowing about the book. Natasha had been raised and trained to be suspicious of everything so naturally she was intrigued as to why the man would disappear off for hours and then return to his room quickly before greeting anyone. She understood the man's need to try and connect to someone he clearly cared for so she would take to leaving drawing supplies around Bucky in the tower as though they were just left randomly and were unimportant to anyone but the Winter Soldier.

If after making his discovery Tony had been somewhat less cold towards the man no one mentioned it, Bucky certainly wasn't going to bring it up in fear of being kicked out and away from Steve and the only people he knew in this life. It had all started as it always did with Tony- technology- the offer to improve Bucky's arm for him, or at least the chance to study it. At first Bucky would hide his arm from sight with his body when asked but the persistence wore at him until finally he let the man look but not touch.

Tony was more than happy to take anything he was offered and so he approached the man enthusiastically but stuck to what the man told him were rules. Quickly Bucky began warming up to the man, and let him experiment further. Tony looked as though Christmas had come early when Bucky had said he was allowed to touch the arm as long as he didn't break it.

The third time that Tony had managed to convince the Winter Soldier to let him take a look Bucky removed his shirt, leaving him in just the vest he had on underneath and Tony was able to see how the arm fitted to his shoulder. Bucky flinched back violently when Tony's calloused fingers ran over the inflamed, red skin around the metal prompting the man to hold his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"It- umm- it sticks at the elbow sometimes. When it's cold. I wondered- well, I wondered I you might consider taking a look for me. Steve told me you're good with things like this. Don't- don't change my arm, just, can you fix the elbow?" Tony smiled genuinely and invited the man down to his lab so he could watch him work on the arm once he saw how apprehensive the man was with leaving anyone with his arm.

The week later when Bucky was about to leave for the park he saw a metal box, like a case for a musical instrument, on his bed with a note on top.

'You asked me not to change your arm except for fixing the elbow so I didn't. I made you this though, it should fit better and you'll have finer control over the limb. Even comes with a Tony Stark guarantee that I'll fix it if it breaks or even destroy it if you don't want it. Just, do me a favour, try it out before you decide you hate it.

Tony'

Bucky's brows furrowed as he opened the case, unsure as to what he would owe the man for this but he took it out and looked at it. The metal plates were thinner which would enable better movement but other than that the only thing that Bucky noticed was that it looked exactly the same as his current one in terms of the paintwork. So much so that you could only tell it was a different arm if you studied them both like he and Stark.

Bucky took off his old prosthesis and rolled his shoulder a few times, trying to get rid of the pain that lingered even when he took the confining metal off. Carefully he picked up the new arm and fitted it into place, gasping as it stayed where it should but without cutting into his skin painfully. He straightened and bent the arm before clenching his fist and releasing it, testing the basic control before deciding that the real test would be at the park. Placing the old arm in the case and hiding it away in case anyone came in looking for him Bucky put his art supplies down the back of his waistband and walked out of the room.

For the first time in a long he used his dominant hand and began drawing the park in finer detail than he'd been able to manage with his old prosthetic or his right hand which he had grown accustomed to using. Once he was done in the park for the day he made a quick stop on the way back from the tower, sticking to his routine of returning first to his room. As soon as the door shut he was pulling out his knife and neatly cutting the page from the spiral-bound book, placing it in the frame he brought on his way home. He quickly wrapped it in a piece of newspaper like he remembered doing when he was friends with Steve before they lost each other the first time.

He went down the hall two rooms and knocked on the door, JARVIS having told him that Steve was in his room when he asked. The blonde pulled open the door and smiled widely when he saw Bucky stood there.

"Hey Buck, I haven't seen you in ages to spend time with."

"I-I'm not staying now, I just wanted- I just wanted to give you something." Steve raised an eyebrow curiously until Bucky pulled the wrapped present from behind his back where he'd been holding it. Taking notice of the newspaper wrapping Steve's grin returned only this time it was wider as he began carefully pulling the paper back to reveal the framed pencil drawing. "I know it isn't much but, well, I don't have much to look back on and remember but you are in all of the memories I have recovered. I- I remember you drawing all the time and so I wanted to do something for you. I didn't know of anywhere that was particularly important to our friendship so I drew my favourite park. I hope it's okay."

"Oh Bucky. It's perfect, I absolutely love it."

"I- I thought it would be an appropriate gift to show that I know you must have meant a lot to me and I'm sorry I can't remember it all."

"I'll just have to help you make new memories then. It's no problem Buck."

"Okay. I'm- I'm going to go now." As soon as Steve said his farewells, Bucky turned and walked out of the room without a second glance, a slight smile at how his present went down gracing his lips though.

When he appeared in the lab Tony was startled slightly to see the unfamiliar expression on the soldier's face but was even more shocked when Bucky continued walking closer before picking Tony up in a hug and spinning the shorter man around happily, the smile only growing as he did so.

"Umm, hi Buck?"

"Hello Stark."

"You seem... happy."

"I- I want to-to thank... you," Bucky said, seemingly unsure of his words.

"Are you sure you do?"

"I am, I just, well, I just haven't had to rely on anyone for a while so I- I don't really have to thank anyone. I'm a bit out of practise I guess." Bucky looked away in shame or embarrassment, Tony couldn't tell but he didn't like it so he lifted one hand to the Winter Soldier's cheek and pulled his gaze back to Tony.

"You're welcome. It was fun. It's not the first arm I've built for you but it was the first time I wanted to show you one. I take it it works well then."

"It's amazing, you're right about the control of it but it also stays where it should without cutting into the skin." Bucky gave another few rolls of his shoulder subconsciously and it was then that Tony realised he was wearing the prosthesis as they spoke, eyes draw to the metal. "I missed being able to use my hand as a hand rather than just a tool, thank you. When you say it's not the first arm-"

"If you'd let me I can help you with the lingering pain from the last one. And no, it isn't the first arm, it was the best I've made and certainly the only one I've made since you let me work on your old arm. Before that though, I had one's built from a variety of materials, ones that you could use for different things, hell I even made one that looks like a real arm but that one will be harder to replicate. This is the first arm that I knew would fit you though."

"Why?"

"Before I didn't really know how it connected or size or anything so it was purely guesswork until this one."

"No. I mean- I mean why are you doing this? For me."

"Because once you get to know the real James Buchanan Barnes rather than the Asset, you're a good guy. You don't talk much but you don't seem to mind if I fill the silence with incessant chatting. You're trying hard to change and be an inherently good person and I know what that is like to try and do. Besides, you live with me know, you're one of us, you're my... friend?"

"Friend?" Tony nodded. "I like the sound of that. I like the idea of having a friend."

"You've got Steve."

"I don't really know him though. He's a person that I know I have known in the past but that I don't actually know anymore. He remembers all these things about me and our entire friendship yet I remember very little. I don't know where I'm meant to start with him. He has all these memories of our past and I don't and he seems to want to spent all of the time we're alone together saying 'do you remember this' or 'do you remember that' and I don't. Maybe one day I will but at the moment I'm a different person from who I was then but he wants to pretend that I'm not. You don't do that, I know that you can't but that isn't my point. You will sit there and laugh or joke with me even if I don't join in, you help me MAKE memories. Steve's friends with the man I apparently used to be, you're friends with the man I am now."

"Tell him that's how you feel then Buck. He won't know you feel like that unless you let him know. He's a good guy that thought he'd lost his best friend forever, twice, he got you back and he wants to keep you this time."

"Can I stay down here for a while whilst you work?"

"Of course you can Buck. Just so long as you can stand the inane chatter."

"You aren't so bad. I'll just throw something at you if you get too annoying. Besides, it's oddly comforting to hear you talking to yourself about science things that I don't understand. It's familiar."

"How so?"

"Well HYDRA weren't exactly top secret talking in front of their own Asset, they knew that I wouldn't understand most of it for the era I'm from. They may not be the best memories to have but at least I know what was happening. I know that they'd keep me safe as their weapon, you'd keep me safe as your friend."

"I'll try and talk more to you than myself or JARVIS then, although I'll still throw in some science just for you." Bucky smiled softly again as he walked over to one of the stalls near where Tony was working and sat down on it, back perfectly straight as he stiffly stayed out of the way. After a few minutes the mechanic piped up.

"You can relax Buck. I won't bite, not too hard anyway."

"Sorry, I just- sorry." Bucky forced himself to slouch somewhat in fake relaxation but it was a trick that was noticed by the mechanic instantly. Tony walked around the table so he was stood behind the soldier who tensed minutely, an action you would have missed unless you were looking for it. He placed his hands on the other's shoulders and began gently kneading the back of Bucky's neck with his thumbs.

"Relax Buck." Slowly but surely the faked relaxation became real relaxation as he gave into the feeling of the small circles being rubbed on his skin rhythmically. After a few more minutes of the motion Tony moved away and back to his work while Bucky now sat slumped on the table with his head on his arms.

"Do you have any paper and pencils?"

"Umm- JARVIS?"

"Bottom drawer on the right hand side of your desk Sir."

"Thanks J." Tony walked over to his desk and pulled out a pad he had put there along with some pencils. He and JARVIS had agreed that they would act as though it was a forgotten pad of Tony's rather than one he had brought for the soldier, so much so that Tony had copied some of his really, REALLY, old designs onto the first couple of pages just to make it seem more likely than having it in the workshop when he never uses paper. "Here you go snowflake."

"What did you call me?"

"Well Bucky or Buck is what everyone uses as your nickname. I wanted something for myself. I figure you're the Winter Soldier so I can call you snowflake." Bucky glared at the mechanic slightly but didn't protest so Tony took it as being a victory for him.

"Do NOT call me that near anyone else. Got it?"

"But I can call you it?"

"If you feel you must." That was deemed the end of the conversation as Bucky began putting pencil to paper and drawing while Tony began telling him every little thing that popped into his head while he worked on a gauntlet for the latest suit he was building. After a few hours Bucky picked up one of the sharp implements that Tony had laying around and removed the page from the pad, cutting off the holes from along one of the edges of the paper. He put the pad and pencils away where he had seen Tony get them from and bid Tony a goodbye as he started walking from the lab.

"Snowflake! You forgot your paper," Tony called after him making the soldier pause and look at him.

"Keep it. Bin it. Do whatever you want with it. It was only possible because if you, think if it as a... thank you of sorts." Before Tony could even ask what it was Bucky had left the lab and was currently opening the door to the stairwell. He put down the tools he was using and wiped the grease from his hands before picking up the abandoned piece of paper.

Tony had seen some of the drawings Steve had done of him but he had never asked to come down to the lab with Tony, they were all if him watching movies and at meetings when he spent the time drawing all of them, he had never stayed around to watch Tony in his element. Bucky's drawing showed Tony bent over the table as he soldered pieces of his gauntlet, without the safety mask so you were able to see the simple smile that graced Tony's face rather than a less natural one that he shows the rest of the team when he isn't working in the lab. Tony left the drawing on his table as he went towards the stairs and began running up them as fast as he could, catching up with the enhanced soldier after several floors. Bucky looked at him in silent confusion as his eyebrows drew together in confusion, confusion that only increased when Tony moved so he was stood on the stair above Bucky, facing each other square on. After a few seconds of looking at the man's confused eyes as he caught his breath once more Tony leant forward and connected his lips to Bucky's. He felt the soldier freeze beneath him so Tony pulled back and started to walk down the stairs and back to the lab. Well he tried to but before he'd even made it onto the step below where Bucky was stood a metal hand shot out and took a tight hold of his wrist. Bucky wasn't moving at all, not even blinking, except for the hand slowly and subconsciously tightening on his wrist, quickly becoming painful with the increased strength of the other.

"FUCK BUCKY!" Tony shouted as a loud crack rang out threw the stairs. Bucky looked at Tony in fear as he took off running away from the man with eyes wide. The mechanic watched him run away until he was out of sight and begun slinking towards Bruce's floor whilst cradling his arm gently. As soon as the doctor had put his arm in a cast and banned him from any missions until he was healed Tony took the elevator to Steve's floor. He was walking towards Bucky's room when Steve stepped out and looked at Tony furiously.

"What on God's green Earth did you do? Bucky won't leave his room. He won't even open the door to talk to me. What did you do to him?"

"Me!? I did nothing." Tony raised his arm with the bright red plaster cast on and waved it in the face of the super soldier for emphasis. "I'm the one whose arm he broke in three places, I wanted to come up and see if he was alright, let him know that it was an accident and I know that fact. So, if you don't mind, I would really to go and make sure that he isn't blaming himself." Tony stepped past Steve without waiting for him to respond and walked down to Bucky's door, knocking quietly, only speaking once he checked that Steve was out of earshot.

"Hey snowflake. It's Tony, open the door for me?"

"Go away."

"Nah, you should know something snowflake, I'm not very good at following orders so I'm stuck here."

"How about requests? Please leave?"

"Still not happening, that's the other thing about me, I'm highly stubborn."

"Tony please?"

"No, are you going to let me in or are you going to make me stand here?"

"You can stay out there until you get bored of me and leave. Or until you realise that you shouldn't be out there waiting for me."

"J, unlock the door."

"Mr Barnes has requested that I keep it locked."

"But your programming states that I can override that command if I believe someone to be a danger to themselves and right now I am definitely thinking that so unlock the fucking door."

"Sir-"

"UNLOCK IT!" Tony shouted and it was the first thing that Bucky had been able to clearly distinguish the man as saying since he started talking to someone else, his AI Bucky assumed. He sat there unmoving in hope that the AI would listen to what Bucky had asked but he knew otherwise as soon as he heard the clicking of the lock. Just as the door was snapped open by the mechanic Bucky threw his gun away from where he was sat on the bed to the other side of the room.

Tony walked in just as it hit the wall so he whipped his head round to see what the sudden noise was, spying the gun on the floor he glared at the Winter Soldier, slamming the door behind him as he walked closer to the bed.

"Tony-"

"Shut up!" he snapped as he sank onto the bed facing the other man, ducking his head into his hands in frustration. "I came up here to make sure you weren't blaming yourself for what happened and I find you sat in here, refusing to let anyone in, with your gun out. And don't give me some shit about how you were cleaning it or something like that, I know you clean them before you lock them away so it wasn't just left out, and even if that was what you were doing, you wouldn't have thrown it as soon as I walked in."

"I- I'm sorry."

"What part of 'shut up' are you not understanding? Look, I'm sorry for kissing you if that's what you want to hear. I know that you didn't mean to hurt me. I get that I shocked you and that you reacted the same way that many people would, it's not your fault that you are stronger than most. I'm sorry I shouted at you earlier when you broke my arm, it was the pain more so than anger. I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry. Promise me you won't try anything again." Bucky sat there in silence as he looked at Tony. "You can talk snowflake."

"I'm sorry Tony." The soldier pulled Tony towards him into a hug, needing the comfort of another for the first time that he can ever remember. "I'm so sorry," he whispered against the man's neck before placing a soft kiss there. He visibly relaxed as Tony returned the hug to him and broke down against the mechanic's neck, crying gently as he broke through the training he'd had to contain his emotions. He would occasionally whisper apologies as Tony rubbed his hands up and down Bucky's back, the repetitive motions calming his cries.

"It's okay snowflake. Let it all out, I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm really sorry Tony."

"Stop apologising. It was an accident. Got that?" Bucky nodded against his neck with a small sniffle.

"Does it hurt badly?"

"I can barely feel it anymore. I did at first for definite but Bruce is good at making pain go away. As often as he tells us he isn't a medical doctor he is qualified enough to wrap a limb in plaster and dish out the strong painkillers to those who need it."

"I'm-"

"Do not finish that sentence with the word 'sorry'."

"I'm- I didn't mean to hurt you but I'm glad you aren't in pain. Was it bad?"

"Broken in 3 places, really bruised. Bruce x-rayed it though and it will all heal perfectly fine as long as I don't take the cast off and start doing stupid things. I'm also kicked from missions for a while until it heals."

"What are you going to do if you're not allowed to do anything stupid?"

"Oh shush snowflake. I can be responsible. Sometimes. When I have to be. Besides, you aren't allowed on missions either so you're stuck with me."

"Oh god, now I'm REALLY sorry I broke your arm. I didn't realise that I'd be punished like this."

"Oi!" Tony exclaimed before swatting the back of Bucky's head and hissing as he used his broken arm to do so. "I think I'm getting the message, be nice to you or I get hurt."

"Jeez Stark, you're an idiot, or masochistic, I'm not too sure which. Perhaps we should strap you arm to your body so you can't hit people with it and make the problem worse."

"Shut up."

"You seem to tell me to do that a lot. Have I done something wrong?"

"No snowflake. You're perfect. I tell everyone to shut up. I just- I need you to be okay."

"I'm fine Anthony."

"What?"

"I said that I'm fine."

"No, I got that bit. I was more shocked by the Anthony part. No one calls me that."

"No one calls me snowflake. I figure fair is fair."

"Fair is fair, but honestly I need you to be fine."

"What makes you think I'm not?"

"Because of the gun Buck. That isn't 'fine', that's 'not fine', that's very 'not fine'."

"I hurt you Anthony. I didn't mean to and still I hurt you. What if I do it to someone else? Or I hurt you even worse next time?"

"We'll heal, that isn't a reason to hurt yourself."

"What if you don't though?"

"If we don't it doesn't matter, because we will know that it was an accident. But if it makes you feel better, we come up with a contingency, with JARVIS, no one else has to know. If you do go too far one day, we put the plan into action?"

"You would really do that?"

"If it means I don't have to worry about you having a gun to your head all the time, yes. But it will only be put into action if you kill someone by accident okay, not if you break someone's arm or anything. Got it?"

"Thank you Anthony," Bucky sighed, his breath tickling the shell of the engineer's ear. "Tony?"

"Yeah snowflake?"

"Do you mean what you said earlier about being able to help me with the pain from my old arm?"

"Yeah." Bucky pulled back and looked Tony in the face while chewing his bottom lip.

"Will you?" Tony smiled at the man and nodded.

"Yes. You'll have to come up to the penthouse or I'll go up and get what I need then head back down."

"Can you come back down? I guess I should apologise quickly to Steve if he's around still."

"Captain Rogers is in the main room of this floor pacing and asking for updates Mr Barnes. What do you wish me to tell him?"

"Tell him we'll be right out JARV."

"Yes sir."

"I guess you definitely should go and calm the super soldier before he smashes down the door, or the wall. He almost went for me when I came up to check on you."

"He went for you?"

"Nah, quick thinker me. He wanted to though because he thought I'd done something to his best friend, I told you he wouldn't risk losing you again. I didn't tell him about the kiss or anything, that's up to you to reveal. I'll come out with you and I'll come straight back in here when I've got what I needed so you guys can continue talking if you need to."

"O-okay. Come on then. I've got an angry best friend to deal with right now."

"You'll be fine snowflake. He won't do anything that might hurt you." The two men left the room together as Tony agreed and he walked with Bucky all the way to Steve before placing his hand on the man's shoulder as he turned and walked back towards the elevator.

Tony was back in the room before Bucky was so he picked up the gun, unloaded the bullets from it and locked it all back away in the compartment Bucky had left unlocked in his previous haste. He took the liberty and led himself out on Bucky's bed atop the covers, after removing his shoes, and closed his eyes. He didn't hear the ex-assassin walk into the room so he was shocked when the bed suddenly dipped beside him.

"You awake?" Bucky whispered into the silence of the room, looking at the form led out across his bed.

"Mmm, waiting for you to get back like I said I would. Besides, I've got some pain relief to give you, then mine to take. In that order because mine will probably make me fall asleep."

"Do yours first, I don't want you to be in pain for me, especially when I caused it in the first place." Tony lifted his broken arm and rested the plastered palm on Bucky's cheek.

"Hey. Accident. Besides, I'm not allowed mine yet, something about relapsing into drug use if I don't stick to the ordered schedule, I've got about an hour before I'm allowed to take it, no matter how much pain I may or may not be in."

"Relapse?"

"Yeah, Brucie caught a look at my medical file. Turns out my teenage years left him somewhat worried but it doesn't matter, let's sit up and I'll start. You'll have to remove your arm for me if that's alright." Bucky nodded once and began the process of taking off his prosthesis, revealing the red, raw skin underneath.

"Jeez snowflake, no wonder it hurts."

"Unlike you the previous scientists were not so good at engineering, the metal was hooked into my flesh to ensure it didn't come off randomly. I've got increased healing like Steve so the day of not wearing it sealed the wounds but it's still fairly tender."

"Come here." Tony tapped twice on the bed between his outstretched legs until Bucky moved to sit there with his back to Tony. "This wasn't the best idea. Wrong hand, stay there." Tony twisted around so that one leg was behind Bucky while the other was stretched over his lap. He tried to open the pot in his hands but couldn't grip it because of the cast and so he asked Bucky through embarrassment.

"Thanks snowflake."

"My pleasure Tony." The mechanic dipped the fingers of his right hand into the paste and lifted them up and began carefully rubbing it into Bucky's skin, kneading firmly but not painfully so. As he worked it into the skin he began relishing in the soft gasps he let out through parted lips as he relaxed. Slowly Tony began shifting so that he was massaging the man's back through his vest once he had finished with his shoulder.

"It is not my- mmm- my back that is injured Stark."

"I know, but does it hurt anymore?" Bucky shifted his muscles and relished in the sensation of being pain free for the first time in years.

"You're a miracle worker Anthony."

"Not really, that's only when I have the use if both of my hands snowflake. At the moment I am merely a man who has access to miracles."

"Whatever, I don't remember a time that I wasn't in pain except for the few memories I had of Steve. That makes you a miracle worker in my eyes." Tony rest his forehead against the back of Bucky's neck as his working hand began kneaded into the other's side. As he moved further round he noticed Bucky flinch slightly so he repeated the action again.

"Are you ticklish snowflake?"

"Shut up."

"Don't worry. I'll only use that information when I really need it."

"Hasn't is been an hour yet?" Bucky asked, changing the subject blatantly.

"It's been about two, hour and a half possibly."

"Stark! You should've taken your meds."

"I'm not allowed to take them early. I can take them late."

"No you can't. You must be in pain."

"You're a good distraction. The minute I stop massaging you I'll definitely feel it. It's manageable at the moment."

"Take the pills."

"I'm fine at the moment."

"Take your meds Anthony! I babysat Steve everytime he was ill I will babysit you too if I have to. Do not make me watch you be in pain because of what I did to you. Please?"

"Okay, sure. I've got the next dose with me, I'll just get something to take them with."

"No, you stay. I'll get you a glass of water." Bucky left no room for argument as he was already across the room and in his en suite filling a glass one handed before bringing it back to Tony who had already got the tablets in hand ready. Bucky held the glass until the two white drugs were thrown into Tony's mouth and he took the glass to swallow it down. Taking it back and placing it on the nightstand when Tony was finished. They sat back in their previous position and Tony began to map the muscles through Bucky's top with curious fingers. It wasn't too long until his head was rested back upon the soldier's shoulder and his hand dropped into his lap.

"Tony?"

"Mmm?"

"I forgot you said they make you drowsy. Do you want to stay here or do you want me to carry me back to your room?"

"Don' care."

"I'll let you stay here then, get comfy." Bucky stood from the bed and moved a few steps away while Tony curled on his side into a tight ball. "I'll be in the main room on the sofa if you want me, just get JARVIS to call me or something."

"No."

"What?"

"No couch. Stay here."

"Those pills really do muddle with your head, eh Anthony?"

"Mmm, muddled, but want you to stay with me still. You're warm. Except your arm, that's cold, a good cold though, I like it, it's like the suit, I know I'm safe. Maybe not so good in bed though. WE SHOULD MAKE YOU A SNUGGLE ARM! It could be heated and wrapped in blankets so it's soft. Yeah, let's do that."

"Goodnight Tony," Bucky stated with a soft chuckle as he slipped into the bed beside Tony.

"Nigh' nigh' snowflake." The last action Tony made before falling into complete unconsciousness was to reach behind him and pull Bucky closer so he was wrapped around the curled up form.

"JARVIS?" Bucky whispered. "What time is Tony due his next lot of meditation?"

"In 7 hours and 36 minutes Mr Barnes."

"Can you wake me up just before that so I can make sure he takes them?"

"As you wish Mr Barnes."

"Thank you, goodnight JARVIS." Bucky closed his own eyes as he buried his face into Tony's short hair. Not entirely sure if he imagined the AI bidding him a goodnight in return.

After getting Tony up to take the next lot of tablets the man promptly rolled over so he was snuggled into Bucky's chest and fell back to sleep for another couple of hours while the soldier stroked his fingers through Tony's hair, playing with the short strands.

"Mornin', sleepin' beauty," Tony murmured as his eyelids fluttered open.

"I believe that's you actually."

"Mmm, perhaps. Thanks for letting me stay snowflake."

"I could do nothing less."

"You could've kicked me out."

"Yes, but you were so gone that I'd of had to carry you out so I'd of actually had to do something rather than just leave you there rambling on."

"What was I rambling on about? I tend to have my best ideas when drunk, high, or being tortured."

"I don't think this qualifies. You wanted to build me a- a 'snuggle arm' I believe you called it, for those nights in bed. Although I don't think you realised that the arm wasn't on when I went to bed."

"It is normally though, isn't it? In case you have to defend yourself quickly. Nat keeps a gun, Clint keeps a knife, I keep my Iron Man bracelets, normally."

"Yes, it is."

"So are you saying no to the snuggle arm?"

"Why do I need one? I never 'snuggle' with anyone and the only time I have taken anyone to bed is when it will provide a tactical advantage to my mission."

"You snuggled with me last night."

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because I thought I'd be safe with you!" Bucky shouted, his way of showing the embarrassment he was feeling at having to admit the way his mind worked after the brainwashing.

"What?"

"You have never actively tried to hurt me, you hated me but I THINK that's changed. I thought that I'd be safe with you, you weren't going to attack me so I didn't need to replace the arm. I trust you Anthony. I don't need the 'snuggle arm' with you because I don't feel as though I need to be ready to defend myself from you at all times. You don't look at me like I'm a freak like some people, or as if I'm some sort of broken toy like Steve. You look at me like I'm a human being whose been dealt a shit hand but that alright because I'm not the only one God, or the fates, or whoever, did that to. You treat me like a man rather than the thing that HYDRA made me."

"I treat you like you should be treated. I will always protect you from anything. James Buchanan Barnes, you are not a freak, nor are you broken, you are my snowflake. Completely individual and unlike any other. The person I will always protect when he needs me to and the person I know will do the same for me if I need him to. Bucky, you are amazing and I will never force you to wear a prosthesis, even a 'snuggle arm' one. Well, perhaps on team movie nights."

"I told you Stark, I do not cuddle."

"Not even me?"

"Sometimes. Not always though."

"I'll take that for now. I'll wear you down eventually though snowflake."

"Yes, you are tedious." Tony pouted in mock sadness until Bucky flicked his nose and he began chuckling.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony wandered through the team floor with a cup of coffee in his hand, occasionally sipping from it as he walked in the silence that was everyone else on a mission rather than in the tower. As he walked into the main room he spotted a familiar form shaking on the sofa so he moved over and sank down next to them.

"Hey there snowflake?" Tony reached out a hand and tentatively rested it on the man's back, the shaking abating slightly at the other's presence.

"Why are you here?"

"Ahh, insomnia. I don't often sleep, not for long anyway, I tend to spend the hours in the workshop but the last time I was in there the gauntlet exploded so Bruce has me locked out until my wrist is healed. What about you snowflake?"

"What about me?"

"Why are you here?"

"Just waiting for Steve to get back. I had a nightmare, started to remember, he's always there." Tony shifted closer and hesitantly wrapped him in his arms.

"Anything I can help with?"

"Stay with me?" Bucky whispered in fear of the man laughing or rejecting him.

"Hey, come with me." Tony stood and offered his good hand out to the man, forgetting his coffee on the coffee table as Bucky accepted his hand and allowed himself to be led through the building to the penthouse. "Will you stay with me?" he asked as he walked backwards, leading the man towards his bedroom making Bucky nod slowly so Tony smiled at him. "I made something before Brucie locked me out of the lab, for you. A present of sorts if you like." Tony smirked when Bucky narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Tony sat on the edge of the bed while pointing off to a cupboard along the side wall which the soldier wandered over to and pulled the door open before turning back to the man with his arms crossed and a glare firmly in place.

"Is that some sort of joke?"

"Nope," Tony stated while popping the 'p'. "You told me that you would snuggle with me upon occasion because I'm so tedious. That is your promised snuggle arm."

"You built a snuggle arm?"

"I built a snuggle arm. Care to test it out? You really don't have to, I said before I wouldn't make you wear one, but if you want to try it out, you can." Bucky ran a hand over his face before looking back at the prosthesis and picking it up.

"You going to help me put this on then?" Tony smiled at the man and moved to stand next to him accepting the fake arm from him while Bucky hesitantly removed his metal arm. "What is this?"

"I figured you wouldn't be okay with an arm wrapped in blankets so this was the best I could think of as an alternative. I called this doctor, friend, person I know and got the latest thing from them in fake skin for skin grafts and such. I, umm, didn't know how you'd like me messing about and making you new arms so I didn't tell you but I have two arms made if you want them. This one which, for all intents and purposes, looks like a real arm, but you can control to be heated if you want, I couldn't let all of my high ramblings go to waste. The other you can't, that one looks like a real arm and acts like it and I spent hours studying footage of you to get the musculature right to match your other arm so if you lose or gain muscle you're going to start looking strange if you use it. I checked and you can get the prosthesis tattooed if you want the star done to match your arm. Or not, like I said, you don't have to use them-" Bucky suddenly pulled Tony into a deep kiss to silence the rest of his words.

"Thank you Anthony," he whispered against the man's lips while Tony carefully attached the new arm, Bucky poking the fake flesh once he had, feeling the difference. He snaked both arms around the shorter man and pulled him flush against Bucky's body while hands ventured slightly under the edge of the inventor's shirt, feeling the small of his back. "So, I'll be staying here with you tonight?"

"If you want to. You can wait for Steve if you'd prefer to do that instead."

"No, you. You're good." Bucky pulled the man towards the bed and sat down before pulling Tony down so he was straddling his lap.

"I need to get changed snowflake." Bucky undid the shirt buttons and threw it off to the side leaving the man in his sweatpants.

"Now you don't." Tony chuckled at Bucky's actions and pulled him up before pushing the covers back on the bed. He slid in and shuffled over to the other side before raising the covers in offering to the man making Bucky hasten to climb in with him. The soldier shifted so he was pressed against the other, head on his chest over his heart while his fake arm rested on his stomach, hand tracing the edge of the arc reactor carefully.

"You wanna talk about it snowflake?"

"It's okay, I don't want to bother you, Steve already knows it all which is why I talk to him when I can't sleep."

"If that's what you want but I am more than happy to listen if you want to tell me."

"It really wasn't anything special. Zola was experimenting on me and then the Russians got hold of me. I-I dreamt that my trigger words still worked, that someone got hold of them and said them and got me to kill the team. Just a dream I know but I killed you all and you promised JARVIS would stop me if I did that and he didn't and you lied and I couldn't stop. You were all dead because of me and you didn't stick to your promise." Tony wrapped his arms tightly around the other as he began to shake again.

"It wasn't real, you said so yourself. You were there when we set up the contingency plan with JARVIS, you know that I did that for you and I don't intend on taking that away from you."

"You really built me a proper arm?"

"I built you an arm that looks like your right arm, who's to say what you have isn't proper?"

"Of course it isn't proper, it's metal. It works and acts like a proper arm but it will always be metal, it will always make me look different to everyone else, make me stand out from everyone else." Tony pressed a kiss into the shoulder length hair.

"You are different. So's Steve and Natasha and Clint and Bruce and Wanda and Vision and Falcon and Me and that is what makes us a team. We're made up of a super soldier who wears spandex. A Russian ballerina assassin. A freaking deaf Legolas. A green anger machine. A genetically modified telepath. A being that I grew and created the consciousness of. A man with metal wings. A man with a metal suit and a battery in his chest, and yeah, a man with a metal arm, but you fit in with us. Is that not what counts?"

"Are you saying I- if I wear the flesh arm you're going to kick me out because I won't belong anymore?"

"Nope. Not saying that at all. I'm just saying that it doesn't matter what others think all that much. We love you and you're one of us, arm or not, metal or flesh." Becky relaxed into Tony and listened as he began to hum, feeling the vibrations of his chest under his head, lulling him to sleep.

"Night Anthony."

"Night snowflake. Sweet dreams." Tony pressed a kiss into the man's hair before resuming his humming of AC/DC while Bucky fell asleep, keeping it up for as long as he could.

* * *

He was still running his hand through the other's hair when Bucky woke up in the morning.

"Did you sleep at all Stark?"

"I told you snowflake, insomnia. My body's used to it. Just glad I could be of assistance to you." Bucky rolled over so he was led atop the smaller man, looking down at him with a multitude of emotions showing. "Now this is a position I could get used to," Tony stated while silently linking his ankles around Bucky's back and suddenly pulling him down so their bodies were flush, "but I think I might prefer this one." Bucky smiled gently and lifted his fake hand to caress Tony's cheek while the other carefully held the hand that was still in plaster, holding his weight off the other on his elbows.

"Anthony I-" Tony paused and unlinked his ankles, pulling away from the man.

"Sorry." Tony pushed Bucky away who watched in confusion as he stood next to the bed, facing the opposite direction. "I should've known you didn't want that, want me." Bucky's hand shot out and grabbed the man's arm, carefully this time, to prevent him moving away.

"I do, I- I just don't know how." Tony turned around and considered the blushing man.

"Are you a virgin snowflake?"

"No."

"First time with a guy?"

"No. First time with a guy when not trying to get them to lower their guard so I can complete a mission. For so long sex and relationships have just been another weapon in my arsenal to get what I want and I don't know what to do anymore when it's someone I care about. Hell, I've raped one of your team-mates on orders and now I don't know what to do."

"Steve?"

"Natasha, in the Red Rooms. I helped train them into assassins. I'm the one that cuffed them to their beds at night. That's my fault. What happened to them, to her, is because of me."

"We can take it slow if that is what you want. Show you what it's like. Why have you never said before? The two of you get on well enough so she can't blame you."

"I don't think she knows. It was hard enough convincing you to let me stay just knowing about the murders, especially your parents'. While she doesn't remember, I didn't want that to bring it up and risk being kicked out." Tony sank back down on the bed next to him and rubbed his back soothingly.

"I'm not kicking you out snowflake. You know, Natasha is smarter than you give her credit for."

"She would have brought it up then, wouldn't she?"

"Not everyone would tell the man who was forced to rape them that they remember the man. You don't think she remembered, maybe she thinks the same about you."

"That's the issue here though. With that in my past I don't know what to do."

"What do you want to do snowflake?"

"I want- I want you Anthony." Tony smiled at the man and raised his broken arm to cup Bucky's cheek and turned his head to face him. Bucky could feel the roughness of the plaster against his face and it grounded him with the contrast against the soft lips moving with his own. As they continued to kiss, Bucky pushed towards the man until Tony was led back on the bed with Bucky leaning over him. "Sorry," he whispered when he pulled back, realising suddenly the position he had put them in.

"Don't apologise for that snowflake. It was perfect."

"Do you think the team is back yet?"

"I think it's likely." Bucky sat back up away from Tony and helped the other to sit back upright.

"Can we not tell them? Just keep anything that might happen between us, between us?"

"Of course snowflake. I'm still claiming the spot next to you on team movie night though."

"I'll, umm, see you here next time there's a mission?"

"Looking forward to it snowflake."

"Thank you Anthony." Bucky rested his hand against the arc reactor while pressing his forehead against the other's. "For staying with me, for listening, for agreeing not to tell everyone, for the arms. Everything."

"No problem snowflake."

"Will it work as well as the metal one?"

"Identically. The structure and everything is the same but it has the flesh on top. Still feels kinda rubbery to me but I don't have the knowledge in this to try and engineer something different."

"I'm going out for a while then before I see Steve for our workout. I'll be back later."

"Umm, snowflake, do you want to put on the non-heated one?" Bucky flushed in embarrassment and nodded against the other. "Good idea. It's out in my living room. Come on, I'll help." Tony pressed closer to the other before standing and offering his hand to the man. Bucky was quick to accept the offer and stood alongside the shorter man, not releasing his hand until they had reached their destination and Tony began to release the prosthesis with a single hand. The two positioned the new arm together.

"Thank you, Anthony," he whispered as he pressed their foreheads against one another.

"My pleasure. Anything you need Snowflake. No matter what time or what I am doing, I will always be there for you."


	3. Chapter 3

room ready to spar, rubbing his eyes and looking back at the other man repeatedly.

"Stark, he- he made it for me. Do you- don't you like it?"

"It doesn't matter about what I think, Buck, this is your arm. I was just surprised and a bit confused. What do YOU think about it?"

"I feel… normal. I like it Steve. I'm not stared at so much when I walk down the street."

"You are normal Buck."

"But I'm not Steve. You only have to step outside with me to see that I am not normal, that I am a freak in the streets. I- Stark means a lot to me, Stevie, and I don't know what to do about it."

"Skip the spar and head out for coffee to chat?" Steve questioned, knowing the man well enough to know that he would nod in response so he was all ready to grab his things by the time that he had actually managed to nod.

"I need your help with this Stevie."

* * *

Bucky and Steve walked in silence to the local coffee shop that they frequented rather than one of the larger chain shops that were overpriced for underwhelming drinks. The drinks were soon made to go and Steve led them towards the park that Bucky had been drawing in his free time.

"Talk to me Buck, what's going on with you?"

"I think I'm falling for him. Like, I care more about him than any of the dames that we used to take out. Then I think about it and it is really weird because you were friends with his dad, we would have all grown up together if it wasn't for how things panned out throughout the war. We don't share any of the same experiences, I share more things with his dead father. How does that set up a good standing for a relationship?"

"You love him?"

"It is accepted now Stevie."

"I know Buck. I just never expected you to get along with him like that. You were so reluctant to trust him when I suggested that you go to him about your arm sticking in the cold, I never thought that anything else would come of it after that."

"I never thought it possible either."

"What do you want from him?"

"Everything," he whispered, looking to the side so that Steve could see the sincerity and worry in his expression at this.

"But you are too scared to go for it?"

"Why would he want me Stevie? There is nothing special about me. I am just a loser with one arm missing that was brainwashed by Russians into becoming a killing machine, made me lose years of my memories, I'm not exactly a catch."

"Buck, you are a hero. You may not have been the best when you weren't in control of your actions but you can't deny that since you have been back in full control, you have been a model citizen that helps people to cross the street and sits playing with children in the park when they ask you about your arm, rescuing animals by scaling trees and telephone poles. You are the best of all of us, not because you are doing all this to make up for things that weren't in your control but because you are a genuinely GOOD and DECENT person. That hasn't changed since you took in an orphan who was constantly ill and getting into fights, protecting him and making him feel better when all else failed."

"But we don't match. You know all that because you know me from before, he doesn't."

"Oh Buck, you only have to look at Stark when he is watching you and you know that he melts a little inside just by watching you. You soften him, Buck. All those walls that he built around himself after the torture and the betrayals and the invasion in New York, you are making those walls fall and turning him back into the kind human that I hear he was before, dare I say the loving person that he used to be. I've read the reports, Bucky, at no point do I think that you sharing experiences with his father would have helped your situation. I think he probably prefers you for being with the Russians in that time, no matter what it was that was going on with you in that time. He hated me at first because of his father, I sometimes think that he still does somewhat. The things that that man did to him because he wasn't me and his child couldn't live up to the impossible standards he held Captain America in, no man should be allowed to treat another like that, especially not a child. He won't care that you don't share the same things. He wouldn't want to relive stories of his father.

"Essentially, Bucky, you being in Russia for all these years is the same as if you had lived your whole life there. You wouldn't share any of those experiences with one another but he wouldn't have held it against you for being from another country. You are the one that he has let back into his heart. You, no one else."

"Stevie-"

"Stop trying to find excuses for something that you want to happen. You can only ask him and the worst that can happen is that he will say no. If he doesn't, then you have let in the man that you are longing for and the two of you manage to make one another happy, truly happy. I think that is all that matters. I trust that the two of you will be able to keep it professional when you have to do so."

"I knew there was a reason that we were friends."

"You love me Buck. It is all that matters. There is another person that you are now including in that category and that is good, you need more people that you think of like that. Although I think that the love you feel for the two of us is a little bit different."

"I do love you Steve, but you have always been more of a brother than a partner."

"I know. You too. I will always be there for you if something doesn't go the way that you plan, even if it is just a minor hiccup. Nothing will ever change that, no matter who you fall in love with. You need me and you name the time and the place, I will be there."

Bucky smiled gently at these words and pulled the other man into a tight hug, both burying their faces into the others' shoulder. As they pulled back, the two of them slipped into a companionable silence as they finished off their coffee.

"You ready to go back and tell the man you love how you feel?"

"I- no. Maybe I'll just start by cooking for him or something."

"Perfect."

* * *

"Dinner, Anthony."

"No thanks Snowflake, I ate with Birdbrain."

* * *

"Would you like to go out for coffee, Anthony?"

"There's a coffee maker upstairs, JARVIS can make whatever you want."

* * *

"Want to go for a stroll with me, Anthony?"

"I'm trying to finish the upgrades to my suit at the moment. I'm sure one of the others would be happy to go with you."

* * *

"Steve, I need your help," Tony exclaimed as he walked into the room where the other was currently punching bags.

"What do you want Stark?"

"It's Bucky, he used to come hang out with me in the lab or wherever when I was working but now he seems to be actively avoiding me. Has he said something to you? What could I do to fix this?"

"You said no."

"What?"

"He's been trying to ask you out, you kept saying no. For a date. Stark, he is upset because you have been rejecting him, you can only take so many rejections before you get the hint."

"I've got to go," Tony called backwards as he ran from the gym and up to Bucky's room after JARVIS informed him of the location. His cast made a solid thumping noise against the door as he bashed on it but he paid it no mind as it was due to come off in a couple of days anyway so it didn't matter if it broke. The door was suddenly ripped open resulting in Tony hitting the man's chest with his cast.

"Snowflake."

"What do you want Stark?"

"I'm an idiot."

"Agreed. What do you want?"

"I said that no matter when, and no matter what, I would be there for you when you needed me. I failed at that, miserably. Are you willing to make that work both ways, our deal? Will you be there when I need you?"

"Yes. I'll be there when you need me Anthony."

"Good. I need you now. I require dinner, and I would like a date to go along with me."

"You need me to be your wingman?" he asked miserably.

"I need you to go to dinner with me, let me pay, walk you home, kiss goodnight on the doorstep. Maybe a nightcap afterwards if you'd like that." Bucky considered the man carefully before nodding and pulling him into his arms.

"I thought you didn't like me, that you were annoyed with me."

"No, Snowflake, I'm just a self-absorbed idiot who couldn't see past his own nose."

"Do you really want dinner? It wouldn't be the first time that you have stayed the night with me?"

"I want to do this properly. Although I really could eat something anyway. I am taking that as an invite to your bed at the end of the night though, unless you are going to change your mind by then, which is perfectly fine by the way."

"Let's go."

"It's only 3?"

"I figure the sooner that we get this party started, the sooner the date can end and I really want to get on with the optional extras."

"Alright then, I could eat now. Come on baby, let me wine and dine you."

"What changed your mind Stark?"

"You, Snowflake. You've been avoiding me. I didn't realise how much I needed you and took your company for granted until you weren't there. I don't want to lose that again so I'm changing it, it begins with the date, we'll see where we end up. Agreed?"

"Always Anthony. Although you did begin the request by hitting me…"

"I'll kiss it better later on if you want."

"If that is your plan I may be causing a few more choice injuries for you to kiss better as well."

"Looking forward to it. You don't need to hurt yourself though Snowflake, I'll be happy to kiss anything better later without the verification. Did you pull any muscles back in the 40s that still twinge a little? Get a bruise when you were a kid? Get kicked in the balls as a teenager, that is an injury I currently hope was repeated several times in the past so that there is a lot of kissing better to do."

"Oh, loads of times," Bucky grinned as he stepped nearer into Tony's personal space and wrapped him tightly in his arms.

"Dinner then? Seen as you have got desert sorted for me." Tony went up on tiptoes to kiss the man gently before taking his hand and dragging him to the elevator and down to the garage, holding his hand all the way to the restaurant.

* * *

"Nightcap, Anthony?" Bucky asked as he walked backwards towards the other's bedroom, hand beckoning Tony forward while his prosthetic arm was busy undoing his shirt buttons until he could throw it on the floor as he disappeared around the door and out of Tony's sight. The inventor was frozen on the spot as soon as he saw the shirt leave the body in front of him and stayed staring at that spot until he heard his name being called from the room and he surged forwards until he was looking at the man laying across his bed, propped up on his arm and only wearing his dark-coloured jeans.

"You are so perfect, Snowflake."

"I know."

"Not vain at all."

"I know beauty when I see it, why do you think I fell for you, beautiful body for a spectacular mind and soul. Perfection demands perfection, I strive to be so for the man who can look beyond my past and see me. Now, get over here Stark."

Tony grinned and walked over to the bed, stroking a hand down the man's arm before bringing it back up in the repetitive motion.

"Preference Snowflake?"

"No preference, although I think I'd like to, 'bottom', is it, for the first time."

"No problem, although I had meant with regards to the prosthesis. Do you want it on or off?"

"Do you…"

"No. Your preference gorgeous. It is only your choice."

"Please, Stark, just… which do you want?"

"I want you, the real you. If you would prefer to keep your arm on, that is fine with me though. I don't care about whatever parts of you are fake or real but I want to worship your body, and that includes the stump."

"I'll take that off while you take off some layers then."

"We could do the opposite. I'll remove the arm and your trousers, you can remove as much as you want from me."

"I'll take that deal."


End file.
